Dragon Ball's story arcs

[Vijay]

I consider 21st TB, RRA & Piccolo Daimou Arc to be peaks of DB

In Z, I'd say Saiyan, Frieza, Cell, Anoyoichi Budoukai & 2/3 of Boo Arc to be peaks of the series

As for GT, definetly Baby & Super 17 Arc

Super. No comments

[TenshinFan]

1. SEARCH FOR THE DRAGON BALLS SAGA (+ Pilaf, + Roshi Training)

[Movie 01 King Gurumes]

2. 21st TENKAICHI BUDOKAI SAGA

[Movie 02 Lucifer]

3. RED RIBBON ARMY SAGA

4. Muscle Tower Arc

5. General Blue Arc

6. Korin Tower Arc (+ Adjutant Black)

7. URANAI BABA SAGA (+ Pilaf)

8. 22nd TENKAICHI BUDOKAI SAGA

[Movie 03 Chaozu]

9. PICCOLO DAIMAO SAGA (+ Kami-sama training)

10. 23rd TENKAICHI BUDOKAI SAGA

[Movie 1 Dead Zone]

11. SAIYAN SAGA

12. Raditz Arc

13. Nappa Arc (+ Saibamen, + Snake Road)

14. Vegeta Arc

[Movie 2 + 3, Wheelo & Tullece]

15. NAMEK SAGA

16. Ginyu Arc

[Special 1 Bardock]

17. Freeza Arc

18. [Garlic Jr Saga]

[Movies 4 + 5 + 6, Slug & Coola]

19. CELL SAGA

20. Trunks Arc

21. Androids Arc

[Movie 7, #13]

22. Cell Arc

[Special 2 Trunks]

[Movie 8, Broly]

23. Cell Games Arc

[Movie 9, Bojack]

24. Other World Tournament Arc

[Movies 10 + 11, Broly]

25. Great Saiyaman Arc

26. 25th Tenkaichi Budokai Arc

27. Babidi Arc

28. MAJIN BUU SAGA

[Movie 12, Gogeta]

29. Fusion Arc

30. Kid Buu Arc

[Movie 13, Tapion]

31. End of Z!

[Movie 04 Path to Power]

32. BABY SAGA

33. Black Star Dragon Ball Arc

34. Planet M2 Arc

[GT Special: Hero's Legacy]

35. Super 17 Arc

36. SHENRON SAGA

[ABED]

Dragon Ball: Pilaf/Search for the Dragon Balls; 21st Tenkaichi Budokai; Red Ribbon Army; Fortuneteller Baba; Tenshinhan; Piccolo Daimao; Ma Junior
DBZ: Vegeta/Saiyan (Raditz mini-arc); Freeza (Ginyu Special Corps mini-arc); Garlic Jr.; Cell; Otherworld Tournament; Buu
GT: Baby; Super 17; Evil Dragons

I have yet to see Super

[Lord Beerus]

I have yet to see Super

Are going to wait until the series airs on TV or wait until it gets a home release, as to when you will watch Super?

[ABED]

I have yet to see Super

Are going to wait until the series airs on TV or wait until it gets a home release, as to when you will watch Super?

Home video because I don't have cable or satellite. It's too expensive and not worth it for me.

[TheGreatness25]

Ah, you and I have that in common. I was going to wait until a FUNimation release. It's not that I really care about the dub, ut I'd rather watch Steve Simmons's translations and watch it on blu-ray rather than watch it online.

[Tyro]

I don't have anything new to add because I also subscribe to the idea that there are 10 arcs in the Dragon Ball manga.

1. Search for the Dragon Balls (001-023)
2. 21st Tenkaichi Budokai (024-054)
3. Red Ribbon Army (055-112)
4. 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai (113-134)
5. Piccolo Daimao (135-165)
6. 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai (166-194)
7. Saiyans (195-242)
8. Freeza (243-336)
9. Artificial Humans (337-420 + extra chapter)
10. Boo (421-519)

[ABED]

Well, if you are lumping in Red Ribbon with Baba's tournament then I wouldn't call it The Red Ribbon Army arc.

[Tyro]

I mean... it's just a name. Maybe not even the one I would ultimately choose if I was going to discuss it in-depth in a web-series or something. But it brings the second search for the Dragon Balls to a close by reviving Bora which was the goal ever since he died, so I don't have any problems with the two being under the same umbrella.

[ABED]

I mean... it's just a name. Maybe not even the one I would ultimately choose if I was going to discuss it in-depth in a web-series or something. But it brings the second search for the Dragon Balls to a close by reviving Bora which was the goal ever since he died, so I don't have any problems with the two being under the same umbrella.

I know, but I'm pedantic about these things. Doesn't calling it all the Red Ribbon Army arc imply the climax is the downfall of the Red Ribbon Army? I don't have an issue with lumping the two together, but then it would be the Second Hunt for the Dragon Balls arc or something like that.

[Tyro]

"2nd Search for the Dragon Balls arc" has a nice ring to it. When I hear it I think back to the first arc and its cast, and I'm reminded how far Goku has already come that he's setting out to do what he already accomplished once before. But I also think the purity of just looking for the Dragon Balls is so quickly thrown under the rug (when you view the RRA arc as a whole) by Goku constantly fighting the same villain(s) that the primary focus switches to seeing Goku thwart the RRA for good, similar to how our heroes go to Namek to find the Dragon Balls but they've gotta deal with Freeza and his goons first. I wouldn't call that the "3rd Search for the Dragon Balls arc" or the "Quest to Revive our Friends arc" because I don't feel that's enough of the focus even if it's the ultimate goal.

I think the Uranai Baba stuff is a long tangent with a wonderful payoff, but I wouldn't call it it's own thing in the grand scheme of the series. Though I admit that it's been a long time since I've done a proper re-read of the series so I could be mistaken. I just don't remember getting that "Goku is starting on a new adventure!" vibe like when other arcs close (normally accompanied by a time skip). More like the RRA arc had yet to end.

[ABED]

"2nd Search for the Dragon Balls arc" has a nice ring to it. When I hear it I think back to the first arc and its cast, and I'm reminded how far Goku has already come that he's setting out to do what he already accomplished once before. But I also think the purity of just looking for the Dragon Balls is so quickly thrown under the rug (when you view the RRA arc as a whole) by Goku constantly fighting the same villain(s) that the primary focus switches to seeing Goku thwart the RRA for good, similar to how our heroes go to Namek to find the Dragon Balls but they've gotta deal with Freeza and his goons first. I wouldn't call that the "3rd Search for the Dragon Balls arc" or the "Quest to Revive our Friends arc" because I don't feel that's enough of the focus even if it's the ultimate goal.

I think the Uranai Baba stuff is a long tangent with a wonderful payoff, but I wouldn't call it it's own thing in the grand scheme of the series. Though I admit that it's been a long time since I've done a proper re-read of the series so I could be mistaken. I just don't remember getting that "Goku is starting on a new adventure!" vibe like when other arcs close (normally accompanied by a time skip). More like the RRA arc had yet to end.

If we put it all under the umbrella of the Red Ribbon Army, then the conclusion is that is Goku's ultimate goal and the climax is their downfall, but the story doesn't end there. If we consider Baba's tournament to be the falling action, it's an anti-climactic end because the RRA was destroyed and now Toriyama's introducing a new character and story in the falling action in order to resolve something from act II. Goku never abandons his search for the Dragon Balls. It's what put him into conflict with the RRA to begin with and continues to throughout that entire arc. It's like the Scouring of the Shire in The Lord of the Rings. The climax was a few chapters back. The death of Black and Red aren't that climactic as Goku doesn't use much effort to defeat them. Freeza however is climactic. He's the ultimate big bad.

I'm writing this stream of consciousness so hopefully it's clear that I'm not saying Toriyama didn't write it well, I'm saying he did. I don't see Baba's tournament as a part of the denouement, I now think of it as the third act and the Red Ribbon Army as one long complication in Goku achieving the goal he set out to achieve at the beginning of the arc made all that much stronger by actually getting to interact with his grandpa in person again.

[Marugoto]

Well, my personal breakdown would be:

1. Hunt for the Dragon Balls arc
2. 21st Tenkaichi Budokai arc
3. The Search for Grandpa arc
4. 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai arc
5. Piccolo Daimao arc
6. 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai arc
7. Saiyajin arc
8. Namek arc
9. Artificial Humans arc
10. Majin Boo arc

I do have too say though, it still irks me that there isn't a better term for the final story arc. All of the Saiyaman stuff and most of the Tournament has nothing to do with Boo. He doesn't even get mentioned until two volumes in! Quite a long introduction

[ABED]

There are a few arcs with the bigger arcs, many of them filler - Chichi's wedding dress, Raditz, Ginyu Force, Fake Namek, Luud

[MetaMoss]

I do have too say though, it still irks me that there isn't a better term for the final story arc. All of the Saiyaman stuff and most of the Tournament has nothing to do with Boo. He doesn't even get mentioned until two volumes in! Quite a long introduction

It's things like this that made me prefer defining "sub-arcs" within some of the traditional story arc divisions. In my case, there is the Uranai Baba sub-arc at the end of the greater Red Ribbon Army arc. For the greater Majin Buu arc, I have the sub-arcs of Seven Years Later, Fat Buu, Super Buu, and Pure Evil Buu.

[ABED]

Sure, it's a long intro, but it's still part of the Buu arc.

[Gaffer Tape]

I know, but I'm pedantic about these things. Doesn't calling it all the Red Ribbon Army arc imply the climax is the downfall of the Red Ribbon Army? I don't have an issue with lumping the two together, but then it would be the Second Hunt for the Dragon Balls arc or something like that.

It's something of a misnomer that climax means the end of a story. In fact, traditional story structure pyramids place it at the center point of the triangle, with rising action taking place before it and falling action taking place after it. So, yes, the attack on the base can be the climax while the tournament can be considered falling action.

But to say that the arc can't be called Red Ribbon because of the tournament is akin to saying that The Lord of the Rings can't be called that because there's an extended saving the shire sequence at the end of that story that has nothing to do with taking the ring to Mordor.

[ABED]

I know the climax isn't the end of the story but it's generally towards the end because everything in the story should be moving towards the point where the stories reach their peak. Everything after that is just tying up loose ends.

The Lord of the Rings can't be called that because there's an extended saving the shire sequence at the end of that story that has nothing to do with taking the ring to Mordor.

No, I would just say that chapter is anti-climactic.

And the chart is a visual, the climax isn't literally the middle of the story.

[Gaffer Tape]

It doesn't have to be, but traditionally, that is what it was going for. That's why they later made modified charts for more modern stories depicting a much sharper downward slant with a much smaller space for falling action.

[ABED]

It doesn't have to be, but traditionally, that is what it was going for. That's why they later made modified charts for more modern stories depicting a much sharper downward slant with a much smaller space for falling action.

What story has the climax in the middle of the story? Falling action and resolutions can differ in length, but in what way is it compelling to have the most dramatic and important part happen in the middle of the story?